


Click

by Enchantable



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Fluff, Knitting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 18:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchantable/pseuds/Enchantable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh knits when he can't sleep. Too bad Max is a light sleeper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Click

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: if you're still taking prompts, could you do a chaleigh one involving fluff and knitting because knitting raleigh is perfect

The clicking noise wakes Max. 

Waking Max is an inadvisable thing because Max sleeps on top of Chuck and when he wakes up it’s with a huff and a jerk. That huff and jerk wakes up Chuck which is a bad idea under the best circumstances. Chuck brags he can go five days without sleep but the entire base knows that after the first it’s best to keep your distance. Chuck likes sleeping. He likes it in that way that only Chuck can like something: he’s furious when he doesn’t get it and even more livid if someone suggests he needs it. 

The clicking wakes up Max who wakes up Chuck who immediately hears the sound. Max decides it’s nothing major and cuddles back into Chuck’s chest. Chuck glares furiously at the source of the sound, waiting for it to stop. It doesn’t. The click continues, punctuated only by the sound of something being moved. Chuck’s anger grows until he smacks his hand on the bunk above his head. 

"Oi! Shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

The needles pause for a moment and then he hears the form of his bunk mate shifting on the bed. Raleigh’s head comes into his view. Even upside down Chuck can see his hair is perfect, no bed head for someone who never goes to bed. There’s a glimmer of something in his eyes, something Chuck thinks there used to be a lot more of. 

"I’m sure the yelling is helping," he quips, looking at Max who huffs on Chuck’s chest. 

"I was talking about whatever the hell you’re doing up there," Chuck snaps back, pushing himself up on his elbows, "can’t you jerk off in the bathroom when you can’t sleep like everyone else?" he snarls. 

Raleigh presses his lips together and Chuck is overwhelmed with the urge to punch him. Punch him or kiss him, whatever gets that smile off his face. It’s the smile he reserves for when Chuck does something that reveals his rather unusual upbringing. Most people think of it either with respect or with sadness, like he’s someone to be pitied. Only Raleigh finds it the least bit amusing. 

Max decides he’s had enough of his antics and rolls off his chest onto the bed. He immediately goes for the pillow and Chuck sits up with a swear, running his hands over his eyes because he definitely isn’t going to get sleep now. His hands lower with a glare because that’s all Raleigh and his damn insomnia’s fault. Cursing again, he pushes himself up. 

"So what the hell are you doing anyway?" he questions. 

"Knitting," Raleigh says without missing a beat. 

"Knitting?" Chuck repeats because he’s fairly sure he heard that wrong. 

"Knitting," Raleigh affirms, that stupid smile coming back to his lips as he holds up the needles. 

Chuck stares. 

He is knitting. Chuck knows nothing about knitting, but what Raleigh’s got on the needles looks like something you buy in a store. His fingers reach out before his mind catches up and Raleigh holds out what dangles from them. He runs his hand along it, feeling with his fingers. Nearly every stitch is the same size, all lining up neatly and he hates that he finds it impressive. His eyes move up to see Raleigh watching him carefully, his face unreadable. 

Chuck hates how hard it is to read the other pilot. 

It shouldn’t be. But the childhood idolatry he had for him wars with how he views the man now, how he knows the man now and it trips him up. Throws him off balance. He hates being thrown off balance, especially by someone like him. Raleigh takes the knitting back and scoots to the side. Chuck looks down at Max who’s snoring happily on the pillow and then back up at Raleigh whose pillow is unoccupied. 

He tells himself that’s why he climbs up onto the top bunk and sits next to him. 

Raleigh picks up the needles and goes back to knitting. Chuck glares down at Max through the mattress and the frame of the bed as Raleigh falls into a rhythm. Chuck glances over and sees that Raleigh’s eyes have gone unfocused. He’s not even looking as his hands continue to guide the yarn around the needles. 

"Where’d you learn to do that anyway?" Chuck questions. Raleigh shrugs.

"Mom taught me," he says, "they pretty much stopped making clothes like this when the Kaiju got bad," the needles pause before resuming, "Yancy was always cold so I got better at this."

Chuck rolls his eyes because of course Raleigh would be good at knitting for some stupid noble reason like making sure his brother was warm at night. Hell even his insomnia is one part not being able to sleep and one part making sure someone’s awake to keep watch. Like he’s some guardian who can save them all if he just pushes himself hard enough. 

Chuck turns and puts his head in Raleigh’s lap. 

The needles pause for a moment as if reflecting their owner’s surprise. What dangles from them is long enough that it’s like a tent over his face but he can breathe just fine. Breathe and kind of enjoy the view of Raleigh’s surprise. It’s easy to read him in moments when he’s surprised and Chuck views each of them like a victory. He likes winning, especially when Raleigh’s involved. 

"You should stop now," he says above the clicking. 

"Stop what?" Raleigh asks. 

"What you’re knitting," Chuck says jamming a finger at the needles, "Max is too fat, I’m putting him on a diet. The thing isn’t going to fit unless you knit him a belt or something."

The needles pause and Chuck’s insides jump with the victory as Raleigh’s ears go red.

"I’ll knit him a belt then," the older pilot says and the needles almost resume before Chuck finally has enough and jams his hand between them, "hey!" Raleigh protests but he doesn’t fight Chuck as the pilot pulls the knitting away, taking care not to disrupt it because there seems to be a pattern to what he’s doing and he doesn’t want to mess it up, "I was—"

"I know what you were doing," Chuck grumbles, "I’m not putting my dog in some sweater you knit half awake just because it came from you."

Raleigh sits for a moment before he lets out a huff of air. Chuck raises his head as he swings his legs clear and shifts. His arm slides under his neck as he fits his body around Chuck’s. They mutter and curse as they get comfortable but finally it’s all a warm press of bodies against each other and Raleigh’s arm does make a pretty good pillow.

"So can Max’s diet start after I give him a box of treats?" Raleigh asks, his voice rumbling in Chuck’s spine where their bodies are pressed together.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Chuck questions, twisting his head back to see Raleigh’s face inches from his. 

Raleigh leans forward and presses their mouths together. It’s languid, unhurried but in the darkness it’s still hot. Raleigh’s mouth is soft and dry against his. Chuck’s already turning towards him as his other hand moves, angling Chuck’s chin for better access as his tongue slides into his mouth. Their bodies move and shift until they’re a tangle of limbs on the bunk and Raleigh pulls back. The glint is back in full force and Chuck tries not to think too hard on how that makes his heart leap in an entirely different kind of victory. 

"Someone’s got to teach him to steal your pillow every night."


End file.
